Fire-escape.



No. 650,403. Patented May 29, 1900 L. LABSSON.

FIREESGAPE.

(Application filed Sept. 25, 1899.)

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L. LABSSON.

FIRE ESCAPE. (Application filed Sept. 25, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (No Model.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT owes.

thus LARSSON, on NEW YORK, N. r.

FIRE-:l -ISCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters-Patent Nd. 650,403, dated May 29, 1906.

Application filed September 25, 1899. Serial No. 731,613. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it 17mg concern.-

Be it known that I, LARs LARSSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York,

in the State of New York, have invented a cer-- tion being to generally improve such devices and to provide improved brake mechanism to automatically adjust the resistance, so that a heavy body will descend no faster than a light one.

Myinvention further consists of certain details of construction and combinations of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, recited in the claims, and illustrated in the drawings, all forming a part of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of the invention on the plane indicated by the brokenline 1 1 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on a plane at right angles to that of Fig. 1, as indicated by the broken line 2 2 of Fig. 1, lookingin the direction of the arrows. Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view on a plane parellel to that of Fig. 1, as indicated by the broken line 3 3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4 is a detail view, in front elevation, of the traveling guide-pulley removed from the casing. Fig. 5 is a detail vertical sectional view illustrating the crank and adjacent mechanisms. Figs. 6 and 7 are detail vertical sectional views on planes indicated by the broken lines 6 6 and 7 7, respectively, of Fig. 5.

Like numerals of reference mark the same parts wherever they appear in the several figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings by numerals, 8 indicates the bottom of a box or casing 9, to be secured either within or without awindow or other opening in the wall, as may be desired, in this instance being illustrated as inside, the front or outer side being indicated at 10 and the inner wall at 11. Within the casing are erected two uprights 12 13-.

J ournaled in suitable bearings in wall 10 and upright 13 is a shaft 14, to which one end of a coiled spring 15 is secured, the other end of the spring being secured to the cas ing. A gear-wheel 16 on shaft 14 meshes with a pinion 17 on a shaft 18, journaled in uprights 13 and 12, on which shaft is secured a winding drum 19. The opposite end of shaft 18 extends beyond upright 12, and on this extended end issecured, by means of a set-screw 20, a hub 21, having bifurcated radial extensions 22 diametrically opposite each other. shaft 18 is the head 23 of a crank-arm 24, said head being formed, as at 25 in Fig. 6, as a ratchet-wheel. Stop-pawls 27 28 are pivoted in the bifurcated extensions 22 of hub 21 and are normally held in contact with the teeth of ratchet-wheel 25 by means of a spring 29,- rotatably placed on shaft 18 and having wings 3O normally pressing the inner ends of the pawls outward, as shown in Fig. 5.

In line with shaft 18 is a shaft 31, journaled in suitable bearings 32 on the inner wall of the casing and having a crank-arm 33. In the opposite faces of crank-arms 24 and 33 are journaled yokes 34 and 35, in which is slidably fixed a head 36, rigidly secured to the outer end of a piston-rod 37, which passes through the head of a cylinder 38, secured in the casing, and carries at its inner end a solid piston 39. Communication between the ends of the cylinder on opposite sides of the piston is afforded by a pipe 40, in which is a valve 41 to regulate the flow.

42 indicates a lever pivotally attached at the upper end of upright 13 and resting upon a spiral spring 43, coiled around upright-12 and supported on a shoulder 44 on said upright at the end of lever 42. It is connected by a link 45 with the arm or lever 46 of valve 41. Swung upon lever 42 is a pulley. 47, ar ranged to swing freely, as shown bestin Fig. 2. A pulley 48 is journaled in bearings secured to the bottom of the casingalongside of or adjacent to an opening therein.

Fixed in upright hearings or supports 49 and 50, secured to the bottom of the casing, are two rods 51 and 52, the former being plain and the latter threaded and both parallel with Journaled on this end of the joined at their upper ends by a block 55,

which carries a rope-guide 56. A rope 57,

preferably about a quarter-inch steel-wire cable, is secured at its inner end to the windingdrum and spirally wound thereon, as at 58, 1

passed down under and around the pulley 53, thence up and over pulley 47, and thence down over pulley 48' and out through the opening in the bottom of the casin g, a belt 59, with hook 60 or any other suitable device for attachment for the person or thing to be lowered, being secured at its end and a ball 61 near its end, the ball being prefer-ablycovered with rubber and of a diameter slightly greater than that of the opening through which the rope passes.

Thepperation of my invention may be described as follows: The parts being adjusted as set forth, a person desiring to descend will secure the belt 59 around the body, securing it by engaging the hook 60 around the cable,-

and step out of the window. The weight being greater than the capacity of the spring to uphold it, it descends, unwinding the cable from the drum, causing the drum-shaft 18 to rotate and by means of the pawls 27 and 2-8 and ratchet-wheel rotating the crank-arms 24 and 33 and yokes 3t and 35. This rotation'of the yokes will cause the head 36, piston-rod 36*, and piston 39 to reciprocate in cylinder 38. The rapidity of this reciprocation of the piston is regulated by the extent the valve 41 is opened, and this'valve will be T regulated'by the weight of the person or thing bong lowered, the weight of the latter pulling down on lever 42, and thus through the medium of link 45 and lever 46 causing the valve to be partially closed when a greater weight is suspended on the cable, and the spring 43 raising the lever 42 and partially opening the valve when the weight is light. When the limit of lowering 'is reached, the belt is released, and the spring 15 will cause the shaft 18 to be turned in the opposite direction, again winding up the cable on the drum, the pawls 27 and 28 slipping over ratchet-wheel 25 during the rewinding.

During the winding or unwinding of the cable on the drum the pulley 53, being rotated by the passage'of the cable over it, will be caused to move longitudinally on the threaded rod 52, thus guiding the cable, so that it will be eveplywound upon or unwound from the drum, thus preventing irregularity in the winding, which wouldinterfere with the regularity of the descent.

\Vhen the cable is wound up by the action of spring 15, the ball 61 will serve asa stop 5 to prevent the cable from being drawn into the casing and as a stopper to close the opening to prevent the entrance of dampness, dust, &c.

' The advantages attending the use of my invention will be obvious from the foregoing description of its construction and operation and need not be further enlarged upon.

Having thus fullydescribed my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to obtain by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. In a fire-escape, the combination with a drum, a shaft therefor, crank-arms upon the shaft, yokes journaled in the ends of the crankarms, a head slidably mounted in said yokes, a piston-rod secured to the head, a cylinder, a pipe, connecting its opposite ends, a valve in the connecting-pipe, a lever'thereon, alever connected to said valve, and a pulley on the lever over which the-cable from the drum is passed, substantially as described.

2. In a fire-escape, the combination with a winding-drum, or a cylinder, a piston therein connected to and operated by the drum-shaft, a regulating-valve, a pulley over which the cable passes from the drum, a spring-sup ported -lever carrying said pulley and connections between the lever and the valve,whe-reby the extent of its opening is governed by the weightof the cable being lowered to regulate the speed of the descent, substantially as described.

3. In a fire-escape, the combination with a winding-drum of a plain guide-rod and a threaded rod fixed in parallelism with the drum -shaft, a pulley threadedupon the I00 threaded rod having hubs with annular grooves, plates in said grooves engaging the guide-rod, a block connecting the plates, and a thread-guide on the block, substantially as described.

LA'RS mass-0N.-

Witnesses:

J AS. V. MANNING, T. C. WUPPEnA-n. 

